Julie Marsden – September 13th

“Running is a kind of melodic flight, accompanied by the feet beating a rhythm on the ground” from The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider & Joost Elffers

“Julie is a long time friend. That kind that even if I don’t see for ages, when we meet, we just pick up where we left off. She is a fun girl to be around, but she is also shy, sometimes hard to break through her shell…We headed out to shoot at a park she chose. We shot around a few different spots, but I fell in love with this shot. A serene, peaceful and thoughtful moment I caught in beautiful all the laughs and awkward moments. To me, a perfect representation of her state of mind.” – Camila G

An Interview with Julie

Q. What is the best memory you have from a previous birthday?

A. The best memory I have would have to be my 25th birthday. There was nothing particularly special about it; a few friends joined me for a hike along the Niagara Glen Trail, and later that day we went out to celebrate. What made it special was that I felt I was in such a great place, and all of the pieces in my life felt like they were coming together. It’s still the time I felt most at peace with myself and my life.

Q. How about the worst? And why?

A. It’s difficult to think of a birthday I would name as the worst, but if I had to pick it would be the one where I was turned away from a bar. Originally thinking I’d celebrate at a small house party with friends, I had a bottle of liquor in my bag that I completely forgot about; when the bouncer checked my bag and found it, he both denied me entry to the bar, AND kept the bottle of liquor! I’m still mad about that one. My friend (who happens to be my photographer for this project) ended up throwing an impromptu party at her house to save my birthday – and it ended up being tonnes of fun, so it didn’t end up being that bad after all!

Q. What was the present you’ve received for your birthday that surprised you most?

A. I can’t remember receiving a birthday gift that was surprising, so I’ll just have to hope I get to experience such a thing at some point in life!

Q. Is there a food or dish that you insist on eating on your birthday?

A. Cake is a must-have on my birthday! I’m a big fan of almost any dessert, but classic homemade vanilla birthday cake is my choice any day of the week.

Q. What do you believe is the most important aspect of celebrating a birthday?

A. For me, birthdays are a perfect excuse to get together with friends and celebrate life. At any other point in the year, we’re all guilty of getting caught up in our busy everyday lives, and making time to see friends can slide. Birthdays give us a chance to get together, celebrate, and show our love for those closest to us. So in short – the most important aspect of a birthday for me is getting together with friends, and remembering what is really important.

Q. Do you have any traditions or thing you always do to celebrate a birthday? What is it?

A.There aren’t any specific things I always do to celebrate a birthday, but I always try to do something that makes me happy. The way I see it, celebrating a birthday should involve anything that makes you feel like you – a chance to put yourself first and do something fun.

To bring Canadian photographers together and create a body of work that represents the unique personalities of individuals and celebrates differences, cultures and traditions surrounding birthday memories and celebrations.

We want to encourage collaboration and give photographers an opportunity to showcase their talent by coming together as a community and collaborating on a project that brings to light the uniqueness of individuals around the world..

The concept for this project was born from a book by Gary Goldschneider called The Secret Language of Birthdays. In this book the author compiled information from over 40 years of empirical research to describe individuals through an assessment of the day and month of their birth. We want to do the same, but through images.